Zander Fagerson hit his target of recovering from a lower leg break suffered last September in time to take some part in the Six Nations, but then missed out on Scotland’s astonishing fightback against England last weekend.

Glasgow are back on top of PRO14 Conference A after a ruthless demolition of Zebre saw them secure all five match points after barely 25 minutes of a one-sided contest. Munster, who lost narrowly at Scarlets, are now three points behind the Warriors with four games to go as the two teams fight it out for the right to a home semi-final.

Matt Fagerson won’t celebrate his 21st birthday until July so time is very much on his side, but the back row is not going to use that as an excuse for failing to drive forward with his rugby career as if there is no tomorrow. Rather than look back at satisfaction with what he has achieved so far – three full Scotland caps and key player status at Glasgow Warriors – the forward is frustrated that he hasn’t managed more.

It is unrealistic for a team to expect to go through a full season without a few bumps in the road, and Glasgow Warriors were knocked off target towards the end of December and into January when they lost four games out of five, with a growing cast of injured players adding to the feeling that the Scotstoun outfit had suddenly become pretty vulnerable after a rampant start to the campaign.

The precocious boy who ran Bath ragged on his first start for Glasgow Warriors back in December 2008 and celebrated his 31st birthday earlier this month is set to make his 150th appearance for the club against Zebre at Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi on Saturday evening.

Zander Fagerson will play his first game of rugby since undergoing surgery on a broken ankle last September when he lines up for Glasgow Warriors against Cardiff Blues this evening, and head coach Dave Rennie has backed the tighthead to use this game as a launchpad to jump straight back into the Scotland squad for next week’s Six Nations clash against France in Paris.

Darcy Graham and James Johnstone have made a big impact with Edinburgh after joining from Scotland Sevens. Now Kyle Steyn has the chance to make a similar splash with Glasgow – some seven months ahead of schedule.